A local populace may be at risk from a variety of possible events, ranging from security threats such as bombs and biochemical agents to environmental threats such as tsunamis, tornadoes, and forest fires. When such threats are present, it is clearly desirable that the local populace be informed as quickly and efficiently as possible. Similarly, organizations such as companies, schools, churches, etc. often have the need to convey information to employees, students, members, etc. quickly and efficiently. For example, in the event that schools or places of business are closed due to severe weather, it is desirable to be able to notify students, teachers, employees, etc. Other organizations may have other needs to convey news and information of various kinds to their members.
Presently, broadcast media are most often used to convey information about impending threats and events. For example, weather warnings, school closings, etc. are often broadcast by televisions and radio stations, or posted on the world wide web. Some organizations rely on pre-recorded telephone messages that their members may hear by calling a special number. Other organizations rely on “phone trees,” in which one member calls one or more other members, who in turn relay a message to one or more other members, etc. However, all of the foregoing ways of providing information suffer from the drawback of requiring recipients to actively request or seek out the information by listening to the right broadcast at the right time, calling a special number to check a pre-recorded message, check a web site, etc. Phone trees are particularly disadvantageous, because they rely on multiple people to take the correct steps to provide important information to all community members.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to be able to proactively provide community members with important information in a way that does not depend on action by one or more of the community members to obtain or convey the information.